Agony

21

I'd finally managed to regain some of my strength after sleeping for so long.

My shoulder was wrapped in a make-shift sling, Dallas had probably made it while I was out for the third time.

We kept the vault to one side of the room I was in and began scoping the underwater residence in more detail. It was two-storeys, like a real house. Like Ace had told me, there were six bedrooms on the top floor. And each one seemed to be reserved for one of my siblings and me, and, of course, one for my parents. I assumed the bright pink sparkly one was for me. I'd been a big fan of the colour as a child. There was also a large kitchen, a laundry room, a living room with an electric fireplace, a bathroom for each bedroom, and a study for my father.

There was a room for everything we needed. It made me wonder how long my parents had been planning to escape. How long they'd been involved with Venom and the whole dark business.

Dallas had stumbled upon the vault in my parents' closet while I was passed out.

The vault, as Ace had explained before, was indestructible. Despite our efforts to hammer it open, not a single dent was made. It was also very heavy. We needed the necklace to open it. And it was Ace's father, who now possessed the necklace. Venom was after the vault.

We had leverage. We could bring this all to an end.

Give Venom the vault and in exchange, get our freedom.

We'd entered the house through what appeared to be the pool. It was very strange. I couldn't grasp how everything was intact, under the island without any water pouring onto us. It was almost like we were underground in the island, above the water but below the sand.

The whirlpool that pulled us in wasn't a natural one. It was engineered, likely by my father. And when we got up out from the water, it looked like we were swimming in a large pool. If we swam to the bottom, there was a little portal where the whirlpool would let us leave through.

Ace had told me that he and Ellie tried to enter the house, but it wasn't until I was carried up that the doors budged. He suggested it was some sort of security sensor or measure that only allowed me and my family to open doors.

Most of the contents in our bags, aside from mine, were destroyed. Water had leaked into Ellie's which contained most of my dad's journals. The ink in them had bled and anything we hadn't read was history.

Our phones were fine, but there was no internet or connection of any sort. The packaged snacks with Dallas had also survived, we'd eaten about a third of them already. But now we were parched beyond imagination and looking for water bottles.

I was seriously tempted to drink the ocean water.

The salt would probably kill me.

"I think the tap water is drinkable," Ace announced from the kitchen.

The kitchen, like everything, was gigantic. It was filled with pots and pans and other dishes. There was also a nice set of four stove panels. There wasn't much food, however.

I approached Ace, as did Ellie and Dallas.

"Well, go on. Take a sip," Dallas nodded, leaning against the counter. "If anyone's gonna die, it should be you, the grandpa of the group."

Ace flipped him off but grabbed a glass anyway. I watched him take a testing sip before he downed the whole glass.

"Well?" I prompted.

"It's the best tasting water I've had." He breathed out in satisfaction.

"Water doesn't taste like anything," Ellie argued.